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How Artificial Intelligence will change the world

IFIP IP3 Board Director Stephen Ibaraki recently presented to the United Nations on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies will dramatically change the world in which we live.

Mr Ibaraki, who is a key decision-maker on the professionalism arm (IP3) of the global federation of ICT societies (IFIP) and who also founded ITU’s AI for Good Global Summit, presented to a joint meeting of the UN GA Second Committee and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), discussing the topic: “The Future of Everything – Sustainable Development in the Age of Rapid Technological Change”.

As part of his presentation, Mr Ibaraki highlighted the significant role AIs will play in shaping the future in every sphere of endeavour.

“AI innovation will be central to the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help to solve humanity’s grand challenges, capitalizing on the unprecedented quantities of data now being generated on human health, commerce, communications, transportation, migration and more,” he said.

Mr Ibaraki explained the concept of C 5 A, where human Cognition is replaced or enhanced by Algorithms, AI Assistance, Augmentation, Automation, and Autonomous intelligence. He also shared predictions that suggestion AIs will drive a 55 per cent gain in GDP between 2017 and 2030.

China is currently leading the race to develop commercial AIs and is set to achieve a 26% rise in GDP (worth $7 trillion) by 2030, followed by North America with an increase of 14.5% of GDP or $3.7 trillion.

Mr Ibaraki said that when the UN released the eight Millennium Development Goals in 2000 it did not anticipate the impact of technology such as the internet, broadband, WIFI, smartphones/tablets, cloud computing, Big Data and Analytics, social media, social networks, cybersecurity challenges and artificial intelligence through machine learning and deep learning.

“Machine learning and reasoning can extend medical care to remote regions through automated diagnosis and effective exploitation of limited medical expertise and transportation resources (SDG3),” he said. “AI will also serve as a key resource in curbing greenhouse gas emissions in urban environments and supporting the development of smart cities (SDGs 11 & 13), while global partnerships (SDG 17) will offer crucial support to our pursuit of all of these goals involving the UN family, governments, industry, academia, civil society and more.“

Mr Ibaraki believes the UN and its agencies can play a key role by facilitating important conversations between government, academia, industry, media, and civil society, pointing to the ITU AI for Good Global Summit this year that brought together 20 other UN organizations plus industry, government including 47 global media and top voices from all sectors.

He suggests that AI can play a role in addressing each of the UN SDGs:

SDG 2: Zero hunger - Agriculture productivity is increased through predicative analysis from imaging with automated drones and from satellites. Nearly 50% of crops are lost through waste, over consumption and production inefficiencies. Livestock production losses are 78%.

SDG 3: Good health and well-being - Preventative healthcare programs and diagnostics are significantly improved through AI leading to new scientific breakthroughs. There are 8 billion mobile devices with smartphone cameras being used to diagnose heart, eye and blood disorders; microphone and motion sensors yielding insights into bone density and osteoporosis - and manage cancer, diabetes and chronic remote care.;

SDG 15: Life on land - Pattern recognition, game theory, and wide applications of computer science can track land-animal migration, population levels, and hunting activities to enhance sustainable land ecosystems and combat illegal poaching.

SDG 17: Partnerships for goals - Multi-sectoral collaboration is essential for the safe, ethical, and beneficial development of AI. The UN can play a key role here by bringing together governments, industry, academia and civil society to explore the responsible development of human-centric AI in solving humanity’s grand challenges.

About IFIP

IFIP, the International Federation for Information Processing, is the global professional federation of societies and associations for people working in Information and Communications Technologies and Sciences. Established under the auspices of UNESCO in 1960 and recognised by the United Nations, IFIP represents ICT professional associations from more than 50 countries and regions with a total membership of over half a million. It also brings together more than 3,500 scientists from industry and academia, organising them into over 100 Working Groups and 13 Technical Committees to conduct research, develop standards and promote information sharing. Based in Austria, IFIP organises and supports over 100 conferences each year, fostering the distribution of research and knowledge to academics and industry practitioners alike.

The itSMF is the only truly independent and internationally-recognised forum for IT Service Management
professionals worldwide. Since 1991, this not-for-profit organisation is a prominent player in the on-going
development and promotion of IT Service Management best practice, standards and qualifications.